A Challenging Journey
by ShinyTogeticFTW
Summary: An epic Pokémon quest is under way! Follow along as our hero explores the Unova region, making friends and meeting people both good and bad. He may be brash and scathing at times, but his intentions are as honorable as they come. Narrative playthrough posted as I progress through Pokémon Black Version. Great art here ht tp :/ /lostinthedreams. deviantart. com/art/Nuzlocke-359927709
1. Hellos and Goodbyes

**A/N: This fic is a Nuzlocke Challenge, and therefore follows the basic rules of the Nuzlocke Challenge:**

***Any Pokémon that faints is considered dead, and must be released or permanently boxed.  
>*The player may only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances.<br>*While not exactly a definite rule, the general consensus is that players must also nickname all of their Pokémon, for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds.**

**That being said, I understand that Pokémon do not normally die from battle. I agree. This is a special case. Now that you understand, let's begin…**

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><p>I am a drifter; a nameless wanderer; shrouded in mystery, secrets, and lies. My identity is none of your concern. I shall refer to myself as a boy – a boy by the name of Nuzlocke.<p>

This story begins in my hometown, when some lady drops off a box in my room that contains three Poké Balls; one each for my two neighbors and myself. Immediately after I open it, my eyes light upon one in particular; the one on the far left.

I'm eager to start my journey, but my flighty next-door neighbor insists on battling right away… without even going outside! What a ditz! Of course, her little water otter doesn't stand a chance against my super-duper grass snake! She has her Pokémon to use Tackle twice, then Tail Whip. I mean, seriously? If you're gonna use status moves, you do that first, and _then_ go on the offensive – which is exactly my strategy. A couple of Leers right off the bat, and then two Tackles finish the job. It's only once our battle subsides that we notice my bedroom is now in shambles.

At this point, my other neighbor – he's the smart one, mind you – decides that he will battle me inside as well, to prove that he won't make as much of a mess as we did. Yeah, right. So, the little long-eared fire pig thinks he can beat me? We'll see about that. This battle seems to be going the same way, but… WAIT! A critical hit?‼ Argh! My poor Pokémon is on the ropes after two Tackles, and we only got one in after our Leer attack! …Wha–? He's using Tail Whip _now_? Feh, you deserve to lose if you'd use Tail Whip on an opponent who is one light tap away from fainting. And… boom! My awesome starter pulls out another win with a couple of swift Tackle attacks!

So we go downstairs (finally) and my mom says she'll clean my room so us kids can leave for our journeys, then she hands me a portable videophone thingy as my neighbors beckon me to come outside with them. Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, guys, I'm coming… Sheesh, I hope they don't wind up following me around everywhere. I didn't sign up for a group tour; I wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer. On. My. Own.

…Why is Miss Ditz going south? Route 1 is north of my house! So I decide to follow her, and what do I find? Her father is shouting about how he doesn't want her to go. I roll my eyes; surprise, surprise. If she was my daughter, I wouldn't want her going anywhere either. But, whatever. She tells him she's going on her journey anyway, saying she'll meet me at the Lab as she walks out the door. Great. Off we go to the Lab then, and hopefully I'll never have to see her after that.

…_Man_, do I wish I had a pair of running shoes! It really bites having to walk this slow everywhere I go.

Okay, so now that everyone's there, the Professor is blabbing about how 'this is a day to remember' and all that jazz. …Seriously? She's asking to see our Pokémon? It's not as if she's never seen them; I mean, she _is_ the one who gave them to us. So we bring them out and she says: "It feels as though your Pokémon have already begun to trust you!" Really? Gee, how'd you figure that out? I roll my eyes as she tells us we can nickname our Pokémon now if we want to.

As I look down at my Pokémon, he crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air, waving his leafy tail impatiently; obviously he wants to start this journey as much as I do, so I say the first thing that comes to my mind: "Smugleaf." To my surprise, he winks at me, so I smile back at him. I guess he likes the name. I return my newly-christened Smugleaf to his Poké Ball, but the Professor is still talking so I can't leave yet.

Blah, blah, blah… Is this lady ever going to shut up? I start nodding my head like I'm taking in everything she's saying, but now it seems I've inadvertently agreed to do something for her. Oh, brother. She hands each of us a compact computerized device for… something to do with Pokémon. Whatever, can we just please get out of here?

Finally we can head out, but upon exiting the Lab we find my mom standing there looking excited. Am I ever going to make it out of this town? …Oh, great; it seems my mom put the Professor up to this. How did I not know she had something to do with it? Hmm… a map. Why thank you, Mom, how thoughtful of you! Now _this_ is something I can use… Not! Can't I leave yet? I'm going stir-crazy here! I know, I know, 'go out and find all kinds of Pokémon and people and places everywhere'; I'd love to, but you people keep getting in my way! Smugleaf is so lucky he gets to stay in his Poké Ball; he doesn't have to deal with listening to all of this.

As I approach Route 1… Ugh, I should've expected this. Apparently Miss Ditz "wants us all to take our first step at the same time." Gee-whiz, I'm not five years old! No wonder her father didn't want her to go out on a journey by herself.

Wait, why is Prof. Lady standing out here too? You're kidding me, right? More meaningless blabbing… then, "I'm going to demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon!" Okay, right, attack the meerkat with your chinchilla, then throw the Ball when the wild Pokémon takes enough damage. How is that so difficult to understand? Just because Miss Ditz has the mentality of a toddler doesn't mean we all do. Yes, I saw what you did! I don't need a step-by-step analysis! Gosh, this lady doesn't get it, does she? All I want is to be left alone so I can start becoming a Trainer; is that too much to ask?

Hey, finally something useful; she's giving us some Poké Balls! But, of course, before I can go anywhere I have to listen to a commentary by Miss Ditz and Mr. Smarts about what Prof. Lady _didn't_ say. Just when I think I can finally get started, Miss Ditz comes up with another brilliant idea: "Why don't we see who can catch the most Pokémon?"

This kinda rubs me the wrong way. I don't need hundreds of Pokémon; in fact, I feel I shouldn't catch more than one Pokémon per area. Therefore, I already know I won't have more than two when I reach the next town, since the only thing between my hometown and the next one is Route 1. One area, one catch; it's that simple.

Regardless, I couldn't care less who wins her stupid little game – that's not what I'm here for. But hey, if she needs to set a bunch of puny pathetic goals for each step of the way in order to get anywhere, more power to her. All I ask is that she not expect me to appreciate her ADD-driven foolishness.

So I walk into the grass, and… almost get to the next town without finding any wild Pokémon. Of course, at that point I turn around to keep searching; after all, I _do_ need to catch something. I run into a girl in the middle of a patch of grass who gives me a potion, which is great, but I still need to find a Pokémon here. I finally run into one as I'm heading southward again; it's a meerkat, like the one Prof. Lady caught in her demonstration.

I call out Smugleaf to battle; he and the wild Pokémon exchange a couple of Tackle attacks until I think the meerkat is sufficiently weakened, then I throw a Poké Ball. Just like in Prof. Lady's example, the Ball shakes three times before it dings, signifying a successful catch. Suddenly, the hand-held electronic device I was given back in the Lab beeps, and I check it to see what's going on. There's a picture of the Pokémon I just caught, plus some writing I think, but I can't be bothered. I close the thing up and put it away again, realizing it's going to get really annoying if it goes off like that every time I catch a Pokémon.

I call out my new Pokémon in order to welcome her to the team and give her a nickname. I ask if I can call her "Flower," to which she nods and chatters happily. Smiling warmly, I return her to her Poké Ball; now that that's been decided, I head toward home so she can rest awhile before starting her training.

After a quick stop at my house, Flower and Smugleaf are both raring to go. Heading out onto Route 1 again, I decide to stay close to home for a while in case we get into a tight spot and need emergency care.

Flower's first opponent battling for me is a little brown puppy. As per my usual strategy, I use Leer first, but the wild Pokémon uses Tackle and it turns out to be a really hard hit. I tell Flower to hang in there and use Tackle right back, after which the puppy looks ready to drop; she's a tenacious little thing, though, and refuses to back down. She Leers at Flower, but it only takes one more Tackle before she's down and out.

We seem to be on a roll, so I wander in the grass some more before happening across another meerkat. Much to my dismay, however, the first round goes just like Flower's previous battle; after one Leer from Flower, the other Pokémon gets a critical hit with Tackle! Either Flower has really bad luck, or we just happened to find the two strongest wild Pokémon in the area. I know Flower's in trouble just by the way she looks at me right then, and there's no question in my mind what I have to do now.

"Flower, switch out! Come back! Go! Smugleaf!" Smugleaf takes to the field, and with one Tackle attack he puts the wild meerkat out of commission; he won't be bothering us again any time soon. I rush home, despite the fact that Smugleaf is still fit for battle, and whisper words of comfort to an exhausted Flower until she's fully healed again.

The next wild Pokémon we come across is another meerkat. I send Smugleaf out to battle, and at first they just Leer at each other. My decision to use Tackle next catches her off guard, and we get in a second one so fast she's knocked out before she can even struggle to her feet. Smugleaf looks particularly proud of himself at that point, and for a moment I wonder why… until I see him spin in place and fire off a Vine Whip into the grass, frightening out yet another meerkat. That explains it; he's happy that he learned a new move (as am I).

Because this meerkat looks more timid than the others we've been fighting, I decide to go with Flower now. I figure this Pokémon is either a lower level than previous ones or she already took some damage from the Vine Whip that flushed her out, so I forgo Leer and go straight to Tackle. It looks like I made the right choice, because she only gets in one Tackle before she's taken out. Flower is heartened after this victory, so I keep her out for the next battle as well.

A few steps later we come across a wild puppy – the same kind of Pokémon Flower was up against just after joining my team. Remembering that leading with Leer had been less than helpful that time, I tell her to start with Tackle – the puppy then Leers at us angrily, but after another Tackle he faints. I go back home for a pit stop, then head off once more.

This time around I've barely taken one step into the grass before a particularly powerful-looking meerkat runs toward me, chattering angrily. I have no idea what she's going on about, so I call Flower out; as soon as she sees this other Pokémon, she immediately uses Leer. The wild meerkat then screams and Tackles her, sending her flying. I only just manage to grab her before she hits the ground, but after that attack Flower is so enraged that she leaps out of my arms and, without a word being said, Tackles her opponent mercilessly. The wild Pokémon quickly gets her bearings and charges forward to Tackle Flower as she prepares to do the same again. While they seem to be evenly matched, Flower's grit and determination soon overwhelm the wild Pokémon and she goes down. It's obvious that my girl's gotten a bit stronger since I caught her, but I notice she is panting heavily after that match, so I take her home for another rest before we go all the way to the next town.

I am pleasantly surprised that I make it through to the other end of Route 1 without coming across any more Pokémon, but I become aggravated when I see my path blocked by my neighbors. Unfortunately for me, they're still hanging around; they couldn't wait to figure out "which one of us has the most Pokémon with them?" Wait a minute, even after all this time they both still only have two Pokémon? That's quite a surprise… and here I thought they said they were going to catch as many as they could…

Suddenly, the portable videophone thingy my mom gave me before I left starts ringing. I take it out and see that it's Prof. Lady, checking on our progress and telling us to meet up with her in front of the Pokémon Center in the next town. Yeah, that's right; the very town that we are a mere seven steps away from. Hoping to get this over with as soon as possible, I head over to where she is standing in front of a red-roofed building and follow her inside.

We walk inside together and cross to the other side of the room, Miss Ditz joining us halfway there, and Prof. Lady tells me to talk to the young woman with reddish-pink hair behind the counter to get my Pokémon healed. I do as she says and hand my Poké Balls to the girl, who takes them and puts them on a large machine behind her; it makes a strange dinging noise, and then she turns around and gives them back to me a few seconds later. Next, Prof. Lady drags me over to a PC next to a set of stairs and starts talking about how extra Pokémon can be stored in there when they're not in my party. I tone her out after that, wishing she would hurry up and finish her spiel so I can get on with my journey. Come to find out she's got one more thing to show me: a Poké Mart in the corner by the door, where I can buy and sell items. Cool. Before she goes she says I should head for such-and-such city and talk to so-and-so. Yup. Sure thing. Adios.

I head for the exit, leaving Miss Ditz muttering about what she should buy besides Potions and Poké Balls, when a man in blue addresses me by name, says, "I've received a Mystery Gift for you," and passes me a Pokémon Egg with no other explanation whatsoever. Okeydokey. Bye then.

Just as I get outside, though, I am waylaid again, this time by a stranger. "Sounds like something's going on in the plaza!" he tells his pal. This piques my interest, so I follow them to figure out what's up, when who should I see but Mr. Smarts! He calls me over to stand near him as a curiously-dressed green-haired man walks up in front of the crowd, flanked by a row of people wearing silver uniforms and two flags colored black and white with an unusual blue insignia in the center.

He introduces himself as a representative of team something-or-other and says he wants to tell us about Pokémon liberation. There is some confused murmuring from the crowd, but he commands their attention once again. Then he starts spewing nonsense about how people only assume that it's right for humans and Pokémon to be partners, and that Pokémon are just pushed around when we are supposedly working together. At that point he inquires, "Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth to what I'm saying?" I'm tempted to shout out my opinion, but I choose instead to wait and see what everyone else says; I am disappointed, however, when all I hear are more murmurs: some doubtful, others unsure, yet none are resolute.

The speaker continues, saying that "Pokémon are different from humans"; that they "contain unknown potential"; and that "we humans have much to learn" from them. He then proceeds to ask the crowd, "what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?" From the whispered responses he's getting, it seems he has just about everyone in town swayed to his ridiculous proposition. Here he ends his speech by encouraging us all to "consider the relationship between people and Pokémon…" and urging everyone to consider "the correct way to proceed" because 'only by liberating all Pokémon can we truly be equals.' Then, in a flash, the flags are packed up and the man is escorted out of the town by his team as if he was the president of the entire region.

Once he's gone, the townsfolk discuss the idea briefly, but the consensus is that Pokémon liberation is not even possible. After nearly everyone has dispersed, a boy with green hair and a black baseball cap walks over to where Mr. Smarts and I are still standing and says quickly, "Your Pokémon… Just now, it was saying…"

Before he can finish his thought, Mr. Smarts cuts him off, telling him to speak slower, and that it's odd to say that Pokémon can talk.

The boy insists it's true, but when Mr. Smarts is still not convinced he comments, "Oh. Then, you two can't hear it, either… How sad."

What a thing to say! I, for one, am insulted; first it was Prof. Lady thinking I'm just like Miss Ditz, and now there's this boy who thinks I'm just like Mr. Smarts! I ought to give him a piece of my mind, but I don't get the chance; between his conversation with Mr. Smarts about who they are and why they're on their journeys, I can't get a word in edgewise until he expresses his uncertainty as to whether Pokémon are really happy being caught by Trainers and kept in Poké Balls. I tell him coolly that he should just ask them, so he takes a step toward me, says, "Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!" and initiates a battle.

I send out Flower against his Pokémon – a purple cat – and instruct her to use Leer; the command is barely out of my mouth before the cat is right up in front of Flower and using Scratch. She recovers quickly and Leers at him in annoyance, to which he responds with a Growl. Flower shakes it off and launches a Tackle attack, at which point the Trainer yells to me, "More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!" The cat leaps forward to use Scratch again as Flower rushes in to intercept with Tackle and they collide in midair. Both Pokémon push on, putting everything they've got into their respective attacks, though in the end it's our opponent who falls short. As the boy returns him to his Poké Ball, Flower flexes her jaw then jumps up and down snapping her teeth together; it seems she's learned Bite. Even still, she's pretty tired now, but it seems that cat was the kid's only Pokémon – which means I can get my girl healed up at the Pokémon Center before she needs to battle again.

Before I return her to her Poké Ball I can hear the green-haired boy whisper faintly, "I never expected Pokémon to say such things…" He's realized now that he was wrong on two counts; the only thing he was right about was Pokémon being able to talk. He has something else to add, however, before going on his way: "As long as Pokémon are confined in Poké Balls… Pokémon will never become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends." Boy, is this kid indecisive or what? Yet again only one of his statements is true; Pokémon are our friends.

After Mr. Unsure leaves, Mr. Smarts turns to me and says simply that he was a "strange guy." I try not to let him see me roll my eyes at that, but I think he took it as my way of agreeing with that sentiment. He keeps talking about it (something to the effect of 'whatever; I don't agree with anything that kid said, so I'm just going to go on my way as if I'd never met him') then tells me he plans on challenging all the Gyms so he can enter the Pokémon League. Duh, I knew that already; it's been all he could talk about for years! Finally he walks away and I can get back to the Pokémon Center to heal Flower; I know it's less stressful for her inside her Poké Ball than out of it, but I also know that that alone will not make her better.

Once I've given my Poké Balls to the nurse behind the counter, I wander over to the Poké Mart to see what I can buy. Nothing but Poké Balls and Potions, huh? It would figure that Miss Ditz was puzzling over nothing; she couldn't buy anything other than that if she wanted to! Regardless, I decide it will be best to stock up while I'm here, so I buy 2 Potions and 10 Poké Balls. The shopkeeper also gives me a pure white Ball with a red line through it, apparently because I'm buying in bulk. Now that I've spent about half of my money and got my Pokémon restored to full strength, I go back outside and head for Route 2; the only thing that lies between me and the next city.

Suddenly, less than ten steps onto the route, my videophone goes off; it's my mom! She asks how things are going, but just when I'm about to tell her that everything is fine, she says she needs to talk to me so she's going to hang up. What's that about? If she wanted to talk, she should've–

Hearing someone behind me, I turn around to see my mom standing there! Did she only call to slow me down so she could catch up? She starts gushing about how far I've come already, and then hands me a pair of running shoes that she apparently bought "a long time ago and stashed them away somewhere" before she found them while cleaning. Next she tells me to remember that I'm never really alone because I have my Pokémon and my friends, and that she's always thinking about me. Then she turns and walks back the way she came, saying, "Enjoy your trip!"

…Alright! Running shoes for the win! I lace them up and tear off into the tall grass, knowing that the first Pokémon I come across here will be the next one I catch… but I'm going so fast that none of them can start a battle before I'm already at the other end! Even after stopping halfway through to pick up a Potion that someone must've dropped there, there are no wild Pokémon to be seen. What a bummer!

I'm just about to turn around and run back into the grass when a boy stops me and challenges me. I roll my eyes and accept; after all, as the boy states, whenever "A Trainer catches another Trainer's eye… is the start of a Pokémon battle!" It's every Trainer's obligation.

Ah. A meerkat. I have one of those too, see? Let's see whose is better, shall we? The boy's meerkat uses Tackle, so I instruct Flower to intercept it with Bite. It seems my opponent's meerkat is stronger than mine (he's faster than Flower, at any rate), so I put Smugleaf in charge. He takes the opponent's second Tackle in stride, then strikes back with a Vine Whip. It goes back and forth for a couple of turns, but just when it looks like Smugleaf is gonna drop, the meerkat goes down. That was a hard-fought battle, to say the least, and I think my Pokémon deserve a good rest before I look again for the one who will be the next member of our team.

…Hey, look at that; a useful application for my running shoes: getting back to the Pokémon Center quickly when my Pokémon are hurt!

We're back on the road again after a surprisingly short break, but again I get through the first stretch of grass with no wild Pokémon encountered. I'm starting to wonder if there are even any Pokémon here at all when what should I see but a cute little brown puppy! He Leers at Flower the moment she's out of her Poké Ball, but he does it so adorably that I can't help but think that he needs to be given a particularly sweet nickname.

I tell Flower to use Bite and he recoils from the hit, but he's back on his feet again right away and starts sniffing around before his ears prick up and he stares intently at Flower as though he only just noticed her. I toss a Poké Ball at him (I kinda feel sorry about the fact that it hits him on the nose) and after it sucks him in and shakes around a couple of times it stops moving and the puppy is now a member of our group.

I give a start as the electronic Pokémon device beeps and shows me a picture of my new puppy Pokémon. This again? I already know what the Pokémon looks like; I just caught one, didn't I? I sigh to myself before calling him out to give him a nickname, and with one look I know he can't be called anything but "Cupcake." He gives a yip and runs around in a neat little circle, so he obviously likes the name I picked out for him. I return him to his Ball and then start walking again, but I've scarcely taken one step in the grass before I am set upon by another puppy.

I send Flower out again and start off with Leer this time, but, unlike Cupcake, this puppy jumps right in and uses Tackle. Just as I tell Flower to come back at him with her Tackle attack, he does the same sniffing thing that my puppy had done before I caught him; it's then that I realize it must be Odor Sleuth. I find this odd, since ordinarily it would only be used in one of two instances – ones that I am as yet unable to create – so I guess wild Pokémon don't completely understand the concept of strategizing and recognizing when to use certain moves for the greatest effect; I suppose that's the kind of thing that they need to learn from humans. My assumption is confirmed when he uses Odor Sleuth a second time; any Trainer would know that that move can only be used once against any given opponent if the battle conditions remain unchanged. Another Tackle attack takes him out, and since Flower only took one hit I figure she can battle one more time before I head back to the Pokémon Center again; after all, I do need to heal Cupcake before I can start training him.

Ah, another puppy. This shouldn't be very difficult; two or three Tackles and he'll be done… especially since he's starting out with Odor Sleuth. Gee Whiz. Flower's Tackle sends him flying, but he lands on his feet and comes right back at her with his own Tackle. Flower falls back and lands just beyond my line of sight, but I'm not worried; I tell her to use Tackle again, certain that one more will finish the Pokémon off.

It's a couple of seconds before I realize something must be wrong. Flower hasn't come forward to attack. I look around, wondering if the opponent's attack had landed a critical hit and she was still trying to catch her breath, only to see Flower still on the ground. I call out to her, thinking that maybe she hadn't heard me call out for another attack, but I don't get a response. I gasp and rush to her side. She gives a feeble moan, and I reach over to hold her paw and help her up. That's when I see the large bruise on her stomach, already black-and-blue and looking like it's getting larger even as I watch.

_Oh __God, __no_, I plead desperately, putting my other hand behind her head to raise her up a little. I tell her she's going to be alright, but when I see a trickle of blood leak out of the corner of her mouth I realize it's not true. The wild puppy's last Tackle attack must've ruptured something inside her body, causing internal bleeding. That's when I am hit by the awful realization that Flower isn't going to make it. At this moment I see red; before I'm even aware of having stood up, I'm standing over the wild Pokémon and telling Smugleaf to use Vine Whip on him. The puppy recovers quickly and then has the gall to Leer at me as though that was a cheap shot.

That's it. No mercy. Smugleaf seems to feel exactly the same way, because even though I don't give him any direction other than to use Vine Whip again, he wraps his vine tightly around the puppy's neck and jerks him up into the air. I hear a single sharp, strangled yelp, and then… Nothing. No rustling in the grass. No Pokémon voices. No shaking of leaves in the trees. No footsteps of nearby Trainers. None of the usual ambient noise. I don't hear the _thump_ of the puppy's lifeless body hitting the ground. I don't hear the noise from Smugleaf's vines as he retracts them. I don't hear the sound of Smugleaf's Poké Ball when I return him. It's as though someone has turned the world's volume all the way down as I lift my dead Flower into my arms and hug her close. Rigor mortis has not yet set in, but the chill of death is already upon her; without the warmth of her lifeblood, she feels no different from a rag doll. Indeed, that must be what the townspeople thought as I made my return, carrying her with me back to the Pokémon Center.

After healing my remaining Pokémon, I go outside and lay Flower down in the grass at the base of a nearby tree. I then call Smugleaf and Cupcake out of their Poké Balls and inform them that we're going to have a memorial service for Flower. Smugleaf nods solemnly, but Cupcake confusedly cocks his head to one side. I can't bring myself to explain it, so I let Smugleaf tell him while I bury Flower's body and place a large, smooth rock at the head of the mound of dirt covering her. I don't even realize I'm crying until Smugleaf wipes a tear off my cheek. I rub my eyes, not caring that it will probably leave a smear of dirt across my face, then scoop up him and Cupcake into my arms and give them both a kiss. Cupcake responds by licking my face, and despite my grief I can't help but smile slightly as I put them back on the ground. I say a few parting words as Smugleaf carves a short epitaph into the tombstone with his Vine Whip:

R I P  
>Flower<br>Killed on Route 2  
>Avenged by Smugleaf<p>

Not having known Flower, Cupcake merely sits with his head bowed during this time, but when we finish he stands up and lightly presses one paw into the soft earth of her grave. I pat him on the head before putting him back in his Poké Ball. I turn to Smugleaf and give him somber look, which he returns, and then I return him to his Poké Ball as well.

I have barely stood up when suddenly the egg I received from the man in blue in the Pokémon Center begins to glow. I hastily pull it out and hold it, watching with bated breath as it shakes and cracks, finally bursting open with a bright flash. Now sitting in my hands is a baby bird Pokémon; she blinks and looks intently at me, tilting her head to the side as she takes in my appearance. She shifts her wings and makes a small chirping sound, and all at once the noise from the town and the soft sounds of nature both are suddenly audible to me once more.

In that moment I realize that life must go on. I have lost a dear friend and companion, one that I raised and nurtured and loved with all my heart; but I now have a new Pokémon – not just new to me, but new to the world as well – and she needs me to raise her, and nurture her, and love her… love her with all of my heart, because there is really no other way to love. The loss of Flower left a hole inside me that nothing can replace, but this baby bird will help to lessen the pain slightly by giving me more; more to care about, more to feel for, more reason to live.

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for Chapter 1. Please review and continue on to Chapter 2.**


	2. A New Flower Starts to Grow

**A/N: I would like to take a moment here and respond to my reviewers, answering their questions and clearing up any confusion they might have. Unfortunately, that can't happen at this time; I only got ONE review in the month since Chapter 1 was posted, and that one didn't express any sort of concerns. (Said review was actually from that same day, so I have been suffering through a review drought ever since.)**

**In lieu of that, I will now address the 30 or so people who read Chapter 1 before I posted Chapter 2: First of all, thank you for reading! …but please review this time, okay? I won't know if anyone likes ****this story**** unless people tell me, nor would I know if something's wrong with ****it****; you can do either or both, whatever you want, even if it's just "kewl plz update". (That was obviously an exaggeration, but at least it would show that someone is enjoying my fic and they're waiting on me to write more.)**

**RealPolitiker – You are the exception to the above paragraph, being the sole reviewer among those. Your words were extremely encouraging, and I really mean that from the bottom of my heart! Sure, things like "wow", "loved it", and "very nice work" are great, but what really hit home for me was "Normally, I won't [read OC fics] but in your case, I will be coming back." That gave me more of a boost even than your eloquent description of the quality of my skills (not that that didn't reinforce my motivation as well)! ;D**

**And now, without further ado, what you've all been waiting for: the continuing adventures of Nuzlocke and his Pokémon in _A Challenging Journey_.**

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><p>I name my newborn baby bird Pokémon "Azalea" and turn toward Route 1; since she has only just hatched, I know she is nowhere near strong enough to train anywhere else. Heading south from the town where Flower is buried, I vow that I will never again let one of my Pokémon get killed because of my own laxness in their training.<p>

As I step out into the tall grass, I walk back and forth alongside the path until a Pokémon jumps out to battle me. With a pang I see that it is a little brown puppy; the same species that Flower battled first after joining my team. Willing myself not to cry, I tell Azalea to use Air Cutter.

She flaps her wings to get some height, but the puppy's Tackle is already making contact before she is able to make the slicing motion that would launch the attack. For half of a second I think the attack might do more damage because it's close range, but the puppy has already backed up to his original position before Azalea's Air Cutter is finally launched. The attack glances off, and the puppy reacts by shaking his head and preparing to attack again; he seems almost unfazed by the hit.

Considering the difference in speed and Azalea's complete lack of battling experience, I decide to switch out now. I wonder to myself if I'm being paranoid or just unnecessarily cautious, but I figure it's better to err on the side of caution… Besides, if Azalea were to die in her first battle ever simply because I didn't call her back when I could have, I would never forgive myself.

I tell Azalea she's done enough and to come back. She does so without argument. I call out Cupcake next, realizing that he has not yet battled on my team either. While I'm momentarily lost in thought, the wild puppy Leers at Cupcake, but I know it won't do any good; Cupcake is stronger than this puppy, hands down, since he was on Route 2 when I caught him. I confidently tell him to use Tackle and am unsurprised to see that the wild Pokémon's second Leer is shot at us from the ground; he can't even get back up after that Tackle, so I know one more will clinch it.

Cupcake only gets a negligible amount of experience – I hadn't been expecting much, honestly, seeing how quickly our opponent had been taken out – but after just that one battle it seems like Azalea has grown both more confident and, if possible, maybe a little stronger already.

Deciding on a whim to see if Azalea has indeed improved some, I walk through the grass a little more. I'm not sure why, but I am not as jarred when the next wild Pokémon that comes out is a meerkat as I had been when the puppy had shown up previously. Azalea looks very eager to battle now, so I tell her to use Air Cutter again. Her attack lands first this time around, but the meerkat gets in a good hit with Tackle right after.

I return Azalea once more, switching to Cupcake this time as well. Cupcake and the wild meerkat trade Tackles, but my puppy beats him with absurd ease; it's as though Cupcake didn't even feel his opponent's attack.

Heading back to the Pokémon Center, I am careful to avert my eyes from Flower's resting place as I pass by.

I return to Route 1 when my Pokémon are healed, almost stepping on a wild puppy the moment I set foot in the grass. He doesn't look particularly powerful, so I intend to let Azalea take him on by herself and see how well she does.

Much to my surprise, however, the wild puppy dodges Azalea's Air Cutter and Tackles her to the ground, Leering down at her. She manages to knock him away with a second Air Cutter, but I'm nervous about letting her continue, so I call out to her and ask if she's okay to go on. She turns to face me with a kind of sad look in her eyes, yet she hops over to me and blinks slowly, telling me that she would not object to being swapped out of the battle. I nod to her in return and send out Cupcake, feeling sorry for him as I realize that I've been treating him like he's nothing more than Azalea's backup. I get a feeling of déjà vu as this battle ends exactly the same as the last one, but this time I walk around a bit more rather than going back to the Pokémon Center immediately.

I send out Azalea against another wild puppy, telling her to use Air Cutter on him, but the puppy charges right through it, barely flinching as it breaks across his face, and Tackles her hard. She flaps her wings and gets back on her feet to face him, but she is visibly exhausted. I call her back and let Cupcake finish him off, then return to the Pokémon Center.

In our next battle, Azalea's Air Cutter hits a wild puppy just as he's charging in to attack; he has visibly taken some damage, but he inflicts just as much on her with his Tackle. I switch to Cupcake and tell him to use Tackle, only to see that he's holding something in his mouth. As Cupcake turns around after defeating the wild puppy (it only takes one hit), I realize that it's a potion bottle! I ask him where he got it, but he just drops it at my feet and runs in a circle, yipping happily. I bend over to pick it up and place it in my bag, then pat him on the head before returning him and going back to the Pokémon Center.

While the pink-haired nurse behind the counter heals my Pokémon, I head over to the Poké Mart in the corner by the door. Wondering if Cupcake had stolen the potion from here, I ask if they are missing one. They reply that they aren't. I turn around, still lost in thought, and walk back over to Ms. Nurse to retrieve my team. She had apparently been eavesdropping; after saying, "We've restored your Pokémon to full health," she adds that I should not worry about the potion; it seems some Pokémon like my puppy will occasionally pick up items for their Trainers after a battle. Interesting.

I head out once again toward Route 1, sending Azalea out with a command to use Air Cutter before I've even set foot into the grass. I hear a squeal as the move makes contact with a wild meerkat, who goes flying from the force of the hit but manages to recover by doing a midair flip and landing on all fours. He launches a Tackle attack, but to my surprise it appears to have glanced off.

I look more closely now at my baby bird; she is standing firm, her chest stuck out proudly, and her eyes showing a fire that can only be seen in a Pokémon who is raring to fight and determined to win. In my preoccupation with the discovery of Cupcake's Pickup Ability, I hadn't realized that my little Azalea has gone up a level. I congratulate her and she turns her head and winks at me, but meanwhile the wild meerkat we're supposed to be fighting has caught his breath and is using Tackle again. This time he manages to knock her off her feet, but she responds in the blink of an eye, repelling him with a Gust attack. He seems to be preparing another Tackle, so I tell her to intercept it with Quick Attack.

The meerkat falls to the ground, defeated, and Azalea perches herself on his head and flaps her wings, shouting her victory. I can't help but grin as well; this is, after all, the first battle she has fought completely on her own, and therefore a stupendous achievement. After a minute, however, she quiets and flaps weakly, managing to wing her way over to me with some difficulty. Landing on my foot, she rubs her face against my leg and coos sleepily. I understand; she needs a break. I return her to her Poké Ball, then walk around the grass a little bit more.

The next Pokémon I see is a female meerkat – a very powerful-looking one, in fact. _This will be Cupcake's first solo victory_, I muse, sending out my precious puppy. Both Pokémon use Leer, each waiting for the other to make the first move, it seems. I tell Cupcake to use Tackle, and the meerkat doesn't even have time to blink before he is upon her and she's down and out. Too easy.

After another trip to the Pokémon Center, I take one step into the grass and am immediately accosted by an irate female puppy. She seems beside herself with anger, and before I know it she is Tackling me! _What?‼_ Just before she hits me, however, she is parried – but how?

I look down and realize that Azalea has come out of her Poké Ball on her own… in order to save me. I look fondly at my baby bird and begin to tear up at the level of devotion she is displaying. _Why?_ I ask her. She turns around and chirps her answer. I understand; since I was the one who was holding her egg when she hatched, she sees me as her father. She loves me, and therefore she feels a desire to defend me from danger. But, I realize, the same is true in reverse: I held her as she hatched, watching as she breathed her first breath and spoke her first word, raising her as if she were my daughter; therefore I feel a need to protect her from harm.

"Azalea," I say, holding her Poké Ball out, but she shakes her head adamantly; I insist, "switch out! Come back!" I catch a glimpse of her face as she returns, and I see a look of pain that is completely unrelated to the attack she took for me. I shake my head as I put her Ball away, whispering to her that I'll explain later, then call out Cupcake to take care of this foe. The opponent goes down once both puppies have used Tackle twice, and I return mine to his Poké Ball before trudging back toward the city with a heavy heart.

When I reach my destination, I call Azalea out of her Poké Ball with the intention of explaining my reasoning for calling her back, but I find myself at a loss for words when she comes out with an accusing stare and Growls at me.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, that's it this time around… Sorry, I know it's quite a bit shorter than the previous chapter, but**** it's literally all I have at this point – in case you didn't see the newsflash on my profile, I am a procrastinator****. Plus, as I said at the beginning of this chapter, I won't know if you want more unless you tell me.**** So… I'll make you a deal, readers: the number of reviews I get for this story will determine how many hours I devote to furthering this project, i.e., sitting down and working on this story. Fair enough?**


	3. Understanding

**A/N: I'm sad. Once again, only one review since the last update.**

**ShuerCopo – Muchas gracias, mi amiga! ;D**

**FYI everyone: feel free to leave reviews on every chapter if you want me to focus**** more**** on this story – the deal is not one hour per _reviewer_, it's one hour for each separate _review_. So, with the third chapter posted, a single person could make me devote 3 hours playing/writing this Nuzlocke Challenge; I really do need the motivation, you know? Keep in mind that the longer I work on it, the longer the chapters will be (and maybe the next update will be sooner, too)!**

**Lastly, I got an idea from fellow Nuzlocke writers ChildishNothings and Ice Krystal for keeping track of the Pokémon in this story: starting now, I will begin every chapter with a short listing of Nuzlocke's Pokémon and their progress.**

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><p><span>Smugleaf<span> (male Snivy) – in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip; Overgrow. Lonely and Somewhat vain.<p>

Flower (female Patrat) – buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.  
>Tackle, Leer, Bite; Keen Eye. Lonely and Likes to relax.<p>

Cupcake (male Lillipup) – in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite; Pickup. Impish and Quick tempered.<p>

Azalea (female Pidove) – in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter; Super Luck. Hardy and Somewhat vain.<p>

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><p>Taken aback by the fact that Azalea has learned Growl, I wonder absently if she learned the move simply to use it on me. I beg her to listen to what I have to say, but she turns away from me and stares downward. I wait a minute for her to realize what she's looking at, and when she stiffens I know she has seen it; there on the ground in front of her is Flower's grave.<p>

Without looking at me, she hops hesitantly over to it, leaning in to read the headstone. I ask if she understands now, and when she doesn't reply I begin my explanation. I tell her how Flower was the first Pokémon I caught, how we battled hard together, how we grew so close in the short time that we were together, and how I felt responsible for her untimely demise.

Azalea doesn't say a word or even move a muscle the entire time I'm talking, but when I finish she looks over her shoulder at me and I see tears in her eyes. She coos apologetically and bows her head, at which point I scoop her into my arms and tell her she's forgiven. She promises never to question me again, and I kiss her forehead before returning her to her Poké Ball. With the shadow of a bittersweet smile playing about my lips, I heal my team at the Pokémon Center and head out into the field again.

A female meerkat… of course it had to be a female meerkat. I send Azalea into battle, telling her to lead with Growl. The meerkat responds by Leering at her, so I tell Azalea to follow up with Air Cutter. Although it's a clean hit, our opponent is undeterred and uses Leer again. I shake my head, wondering what happened to my theory that wild Pokémon can't formulate strategies on their own.

"Azalea, enough! Get back!"

She returns to me without hesitation.

"Go! Cupcake!"

He emerges with a yip, meeting the meerkat's Tackle attack head-on with his own. The meerkat tumbles backwards, landing facedown in a cloud of dust. She lifts her head to Leer at Cupcake, but I can tell it's halfhearted; she knows she's way outmatched, and in the blink of an eye she's been knocked out.

A few more steps and I come across a female puppy. Azalea comes out with a smile, ready to take on this challenge. This time I tell her to start with Air Cutter, but the puppy preempts her with a Tackle attack. I decide to change tack and have her use Gust this time, to which the puppy responds with a Leer. I know Azalea could take another hit like the last one, but with her defenses lowered by Leer it's questionable. I don't want to risk it, especially since she has just come to terms with my reasonings.

Once I have switched to Cupcake, the wild puppy's next Leer is in vain; a single Tackle attack takes her out, and we're on our way again.

In our next battle, Azalea faces a male meerkat. She gets the jump on him with a Quick Attack, and he responds with a comparatively slow Tackle. I tell Azalea to use Air Cutter next, and to my surprise it is enough to finish him off.

I figure it's been a while since Cupcake has had a chance to battle on his own, so I send him out first in the next match. He squares off against a wild female meerkat, landing a critical hit with Tackle and taking her out before she could even start to make a move.

I realize at this point that the Pokémon on Route 1 are only worth battling with Azalea; my boys have been ready to go on for a while, but they have been patiently waiting for Azalea to catch up to their level. Well, they've waited long enough; Azalea's doing pretty well for herself now, so we move on to Route 2 once we've rested up at the Pokémon Center again.

Two steps into the tall grass and we find a male meerkat. Cupcake looks pretty pumped, so I have him use Tackle. It does quite a bit of damage, and even though the opponent uses Leer, I'm not backing down this time. Cupcake uses Tackle a second time and that's the end of it… Or so I thought.

The meerkat went down sure enough, but the next thing I know my puppy is attacking the grass, taking a large bunch of it in his mouth and chewing it fiercely. I am dumbstruck for a moment, then shake my head resignedly; that's my Cupcake, such an impish little guy. He learned Bite, and since there wasn't a Pokémon for him to use it on, he decided the next best thing would be the grass.

I call him back to his Poké Ball, then bring Azalea out and tell her to use Gust to flush out a new opponent. It turns out to be a female puppy, and she doesn't take kindly to being blown out of hiding; she leaps into action with a powerful Tackle attack. Before she has a chance to do anything else, however, Azalea's Air Cutter lands a critical hit and she's down for the count.

Azalea's Air Cutter seems to be getting stronger every time she uses it; it alone is almost enough to take out the female meerkat that we come up against next. Azalea follows that up with a Quick Attack, and the meerkat never knew what hit her.

With Azalea growing by leaps and bounds (having leveled up three times over the course of five battles), I blaze even further ahead. It then occurs to me that there will be Trainers up ahead, so my Pokémon had better be prepared when I come up to them. Before I can dwell too long on that, I am spotted by girl standing in the middle of the path. Here goes.

She's going on about how her Pokémon is so cute, but I'll bet whatever she's got is nowhere near as adorable as Cupcake. That's beside the point, though, because I've sent Azalea out first. This girl's Pokémon is a purple cat, like the one Mr. Unsure had, except this one is female. She looks formidable, so I instruct Azalea to start with Growl.

…An interesting tactic; our opponent uses Growl as well. But we don't have to rely on physical attack power, do we Azalea? Use Gust, now!

Wow, that's one fast cat! She just jumped in and used Scratch so fast I almost couldn't see it! The thing is, after our Growl, her Scratch hardly did any damage at all – in contrast to Azalea's Gust attack, which put a reasonable dent in the cat's HP since it was unaffected by Growl due to it being a special attack. Since it worked so well last time, let's keep using Gust.

Hmm… Growl again? Did you not realize that won't weaken our Gust attack? …Apparently not, seeing as she winds up doing it three times in a row… Our opponent looks ready to drop, so let's use one final Gust to seal the deal. Hang on… just before that last attack knocked her out, it looked like the cat was doing something with her paw… some kind of move? Oh well, whatever it was, it failed.

I do believe congratulations are in order for my marvelous baby bird, who has come such a long way from the tiny hatchling she was not so long ago. Just then I notice Azalea staring intently at the unconscious cat Pokémon, as though Leering at her… but she also seems to be struggling to focus… Of course! She's trying to learn Leer, but she already knows four moves. I consider for a minute. My other Pokémon all have used Leer with great results, but Growl has proven itself more helpful even though I haven't used the move much. Regardless, I realize, if I want to use Leer, I can use one of my other Pokémon; there's no reason for everyone on my team to all know the same move. Well, that settles it. I inform Azalea that she can give up on learning Leer; it seems to be a load off her mind.

As I return Azalea to her Poké Ball and turn to walk away from the now-defeated Trainer, she says again that her Pokémon is _so_ cute. I roll my eyes, thinking to myself that my baby bird is cuter than her cat, but I don't say it out loud.

Continuing on my way, another female meerkat jumps out at me; I send Cupcake into battle with a command to try out his new Bite attack. It appears to have done a lot of damage, whereas the opponent's Tackle did hardly anything. I turn toward the next town and start walking that way, telling Cupcake over my shoulder to finish the battle with a Tackle attack of his own before following me.

I hear the meerkat go down behind me, marveling that I haven't taken three steps before Cupcake comes barreling past, crashing headlong into a wild puppy. I pause to watch the two males Tackle each other until mine is victorious, wondering to myself whether or not it's a good thing that Cupcake has no problem battling without my input… and whether I might get in trouble for something like that in an official battle.

With this thought in mind, I call Cupcake over to me and bend down to his level. He bounds over and crouches playfully, wagging his tail and yipping. I place my hand on his head and tell him that I appreciate his energy, but that he needs to do only what I say when we're battling. He rolls over on his back in the grass, pawing the air with a whine before I give in and rub his belly.

Satisfied with our mutual agreement, he nods and sneezes before rolling back onto his feet and jumping into my arms to lick my face. I can't help but laugh at my Pokémon's lovable antics as I hug him close to my chest. It seems our display of affection has drawn the attention of a Trainer; a boy on the path ahead sees us and challenges me to a battle with his puppy. I stand up, returning Cupcake to his Poké Ball as I do so, and send out Azalea.

This boy's puppy looks almost as strong as Cupcake, but I think my baby bird can take him on (at least briefly). Leading off with Growl, I watch to see what our opponent's strategy will be… Odor Sleuth? Really? That's the only move any of my Pokémon know that I've never used, reason being that it hasn't yet been necessary. Just when I tell Azalea to attack with Air Cutter, my opponent follows up with Leer.

Here I take a moment to weigh my chances. On the one hand, Azalea has already taken some damage from our match against to other Trainer, and this puppy is close to her level; she would most likely withstand a single Tackle attack without being defeated. Concerning stat changes: Growl lowered the puppy's attack power and Leer lowered Azalea's defenses; these effects basically cancel each other out. However, should the puppy land a critical hit on Azalea… I feel the risk is too great; critical hits, while rare, negate any stat changes that would weaken the damage from them when they occur.

"Azalea, okay! Come back! You're in charge, Smugleaf!" It's been a while since he's been in a battle, but my first Pokémon still has the same determined look on his face that says he's ready to fight and win. The puppy Tackles him, but he is hardly fazed at all by it. When I tell him to use Vine Whip, he does so with a very bored look on his face. Our opponent uses Odor Sleuth (again?‼), and Smugleaf fans a yawn with one vine while finishing the puppy off with the other.

The boy returns his defeated puppy, expressing awe at the variety of Pokémon and moves that different Trainers use in battle. I shrug at the comment – Smugleaf mirrors me – and before long I'm nearing the end of Route 2 with my faithful starter at my heels. The next town is within sight when…

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><p><strong>AN: Hee-hee! A cliffhanger! Maybe that will give readers some incentive to leave me a review this time! What do you think will happen next? A wild Pokémon? Another Trainer? A phone call from Youngster Joey? xD**

**Okay, here's deal #2: If I get reviews from 3 or more people, I'll post the next chapter around the beginning of next month instead of waiting until halfway through it like I did with chapters 1-3. Don't worry about it being too short if this does occur; deal #1 is still in effect, so by that time I will have spent at least 3 hours working on it since I've posted this one.**

**P.S. I'll say it now because I won't update again until New Year's Day at the earliest: MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	4. Progress

**A/N: -.- Okay, fine, I'll admit it: I had an ulterior motive when I made deal #2! While I _had_ hoped you guys would be looking forward to seeing this updated sooner, I was planning on doing that anyway (at least this time around – reason being it's hard to keep track of _when_ people actually view my stuff if the chapters are uploaded halfway through the month – since I figured then I'd be able to know exactly how many people read it per update every month).**

**The good news is I found a loophole in the aforementioned deal which makes this early update valid: even though I haven't gotten 3 reviews since the last update, I have reviews from more than 3 people _altogether_ now. So there. :P**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan – I'm glad you reviewed; thank you so much!**

**aClay1788 – Thanks for reviewing! :D Let's keep ourselves on task and remind each other to update our respective Nuzlockes whenever we can.**

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><p><span>Smugleaf<span> (male Snivy) Level 5-9: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip; Overgrow. Lonely and Somewhat vain.<p>

Flower (female Patrat) Level 4-7: buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.  
>Tackle, Leer, Bite; Keen Eye. Lonely and Likes to relax.<p>

Cupcake (male Lillipup) Level 6-8: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite; Pickup. Impish and Quick tempered.<p>

Azalea (female Pidove) Level 0-8: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter; Super Luck. Hardy and Somewhat vain.<p>

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><p>…Oh, great; it's Miss Ditz again. Just what I need. Fine, I'll battle you as long as you leave me alone after I beat you. And yet, I get the feeling she won't…<p>

Okay, so she caught a puppy. I'm sure Smugleaf can take her, no problem. I tell him to use Vine Whip and it's a clean hit, but the puppy is standing strong. Impressive. Her Leer has an effect on Smugleaf, and he seems unsure of himself for the first time.

While Miss Ditz is babbling about how she and her Pokémon are going to give it their all, I focus instead on assuring Smugleaf that I know he can do it. He nods, seeming heartened by my encouragement, but I still note a certain hesitation behind his movements when I call out for him to use Vine Whip again. The puppy, perhaps sensing this weakness, charges straight through Smugleaf's vines and Tackles him to the ground. My heart stops at the look of fear on my starter's face as our opponent stares down at him. Before I can think of what move to use next, I hear Miss Ditz whistle to her Pokémon; the puppy romps over to her Trainer and sits next to her while she uses a Potion to restore her strength.

_Now's our chance!_ I tell Smugleaf to get in close with Tackle and follow up with a Vine Whip. This powerful combination attack leaves the puppy even weaker than she was before the Potion healed her. I take a moment now to watch our opponent's next move… and am disappointed when I see her use Odor Sleuth. That is so stupid. I'll bet that, by the time I'm in a battle that Odor Sleuth would actually be helpful in, it won't be used. But that's beside the point. I have Smugleaf Tackle the puppy one last time and she goes flying (I guess you could say the critical hit was overkill). This match was a lot tougher than I expected, so I call Smugleaf back for a nice rest in his Poké Ball before Miss Ditz sends out her water otter.

"This little one is up next," she says. Alright, then I'll battle with _my_ little one as well – Azalea. As per our routine, we start off with a Growl; obviously, we didn't foresee our opponent using a special attack. The Water Gun hits Azalea full in the face, and I quickly return my bedraggled baby bird before she can take too much damage.

"Go! Cupcake!" Unfortunately, the next Water Gun seems to be just as effective on him as it was on Azalea. Before I can call him back too, Cupcake shakes it off and charges in with a Bite attack, getting a mouthful of Water Gun in the process. Skidding to a stop at my feet, he coughs and pants for breath in a puddle of water. I bend down and pick him up, halting the battle momentarily as I sternly remind him of his promise not to attack without my say-so anymore. He bows his head in apology, and I return him to his Poké Ball after giving him a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"You're in charge, Smugleaf!" I know it wasn't a very long break, but I'm certain the type advantage will expedite our victory. In truth, I was planning on finishing with Smugleaf anyway; I only sent out Azalea to lower our opponent's attack power since Smugleaf had already taken some damage from before. As for Cupcake, I just wanted him to get some experience going up against stronger Pokémon.

Just as I figured, Smugleaf is completely unfazed by our opponent's Water Gun, whereas a single Vine Whip is enough to finish off the water otter. As I return my Pokémon to his Poké Ball, I hear Miss Ditz say she couldn't win because I was so good but that she'll train harder so she won't lose anymore. Yeah, you do that. Preferably somewhere far away from me. Hey, look at that; she's going back down Route 2 – the opposite direction from where I'm going. So she decided to leave me alone after all!

Alright, we've finally reached the next town, and I immediately make a beeline for the Pokémon Center. Once I've given my Pokémon to Ms. Nurse, I wander idly over to the Poké Mart in the corner to see if their selection is any different from the one in the other town. It doesn't look like it, but just as I'm about to turn away I see something I've never seen before: a pink Poké Ball with yellow curved markings on the front and a blue line through it. According to the clerk, this kind of Ball will completely heal any Pokémon when they are caught by it. I buy two, then head back to the front desk to get my Pokémon back.

In addition to my Pokémon, Ms. Nurse also hands me a spray can of some sort; she says it must be something Cupcake found with Pickup, but he didn't seem to want anything to do with it. I soon find out it's no wonder – according to her, the stuff is made to keep other Pokémon away. Why anyone would want something like that, I have no idea. If anything, I'd want a spray that keeps _humans_ away.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I know, this one is shorter than the previous one despite the fact I had more reviews between chapters 3 and 4 than I did between 2 and 3. I'm sorry, but consider the fact that I did this in half the time compared to the last one; two weeks rather than four! I really do _want_ to work on this more, I just don't seem to have enough ambition (or, should I say, _motivation_?) to sit down and get it done. C'mon, readers: reviews = motivation!**


	5. Violets Are Blue

**A/N: OMG it's been over a year since I updated this story?‼ Now I feel real bad – **_**bad**_** llama! Lol but really, I do apologize for the delay… so, I'm giving you all the next installment as a Valentine's Day gift to my readers!**

**aClay1788**** – Hey, my first repeat reviewer! I know the previous chapter was really short; I'll try harder this time. ^.^ But hey, Odor Sleuth **_**can**_** be useful in the right situations, i.e., battling Pokémon that rely on raising their evasiveness, or when you're up against a Ghost-type; the use of this move (or Foresight) is the only possible way to land a super-effective hit on a Sableye or Spiritomb (unless you're attacking with a Pokémon whose Ability is Scrappy)!  
>EDIT: Now that the Fairy-type has been introduced, it <em>is<em> possible to hit a Sableye or Spiritomb with a super-effective move without "identifying" the Pok**é**mon first if you use a Fairy-type move. Also, in an inverse battle, Normal-, Poison-, and Psychic-type moves would be super-effective against them as well.  
><strong>

**Charmed7293**** – Yay! Thanks! I'm glad you like my battles. I always visualize stuff, so I do my best to write in a way that makes readers able to visualize things as well. I get what you mean about making **_**every**_** battle so descriptive – since there **_**will**_** be a lot of them – but as much as you think it might become tedious, consider that I have mostly been showing you each Pokémon's personality with their Nature and Characteristic coming through in their actions during the battle scenes. As far as I can see, by the time you think you really know all of Nuzlocke's Pokémon, there will have been another change in the lineup one way or another, so that should keep things fresh and exciting (for you as well as me).**

**AwesomenessDude4**** – Thank you very much for reviewing, and I hope you'll leave another review once I've posted this chapter.**

**Stephy825**** – Stephy! **_**Whee **_***glomp* Hiiii!  
>1: Um… you say 'barely any dialogue' like it's a really bad thing that you absolutely hate in fics… I'm sorry. :( There isn't much dialogue at all in this story for 2 reasons: 1) the main character doesn't generally talk in the games, so almost the only things I'll have Nuzlocke say will be his Pokémon's nicknames when he gives them and occasionally the little blurbs for bringing out or calling back his Pokémon in battle; and 2) there's something about my Nuzlocke that predisposes him to not really <strong>_**get**_** what people say… I mean, he understands them – obviously, since I mostly paraphrase the NPCs' speech – but I'm not going to say anything else about it here because *SPOILERS*! XP  
>2: Azalea is indeed a Pidove, hatched from the Secret Egg received over the Nintendo WFC via Mystery Gift in the AprilMay 2011 event distribution. And, just because the Pokémon aren't "talking" doesn't mean they aren't **_**talking**_**. :P**

**Charles the VII**** – Whoa! You reviewed all 4 chapters! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  
>1: Yeah, I cried too.<br>2: Yes, I love my sweet little Azalea, rescuing me like that. ^v^  
>3: You make a good point; why <strong>_**are**_** Nuzlocke's Pokémon the only ones that die? Well, as far as I'm concerned it's not that **_**only**_** Nuzlocke's Pokémon can die, it's the circumstances of any given battle that determine the mortality of the participants. For example, if you were paying attention you'd know that, after Flower died of internal hemorrhaging caused by a Tackle to the gut, her murderer was hanged to death by Smugleaf's Vine Whip. X~X  
>4: o.o You think the fourth chapter (and <strong>_**shortest**_** by far) of this fic is as good as the first one (which is over three times as long)? T^T That comment… has just made my day.**

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><p><span>Smugleaf<span> (male Snivy) Level 5-9: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip; Overgrow. Lonely and Somewhat vain.<p>

Flower (female Patrat) Level 4-7: buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.  
>Tackle, Leer, Bite; Keen Eye. Lonely and Likes to relax.<p>

Cupcake (male Lillipup) Level 6-9: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite; Pickup. Impish and Quick tempered.<p>

Azalea (female Pidove) Level 0-9: in Nuzlocke's party.  
>Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter; Super Luck. Hardy and Somewhat vain.<p>

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><p>As I walk out of the Pokémon Center, I take a look around; in one direction there is a huge archway, while the other seems to contain a path through the trees – it looks like as good a place to train as any, so I head that way.<p>

Before long I've been spotted by a girl who, as far as I'm concerned, is way too excited just about training. My hand is on Smugleaf's Poké Ball before she has even called her Pokémon out.

As it turns out, she has a purple cat. I tell Smugleaf to use Vine Whip on her, and it's a clean hit. She responds by doing something with her paw… and now she's Growling? Okay. What was with the cat's paw, though?

Anyway, let's use Vine Whip a couple more times; I'm sure that'll finish her off, and then if this girl's got another Pokémon I'll switch to Azalea or Cupcake.

Ah, she's fighting back with a Scratch attack. Simple enough – Smugleaf uses a vine to deflect it without missing a beat, following through with an elegance our opponent can't hope to match.

By this point our opponent is just about ready to drop, barely able to stand on her own four paws. It's not looking too good for her; I'm sure, as they say, she would even like to borrow a… a cat's… hand… Hang on, that's it, isn't it? A cat's hand! She was using Assist! Well, now I know she's got at least one other Pokémon; one that knows Growl. I guess that means I'm going with Azalea, since Growl won't affect the power of her Gust or Air Cutter attacks like it would for Cupcake's Bite and Tackle.

Meanwhile, Smugleaf looses one final Vine Whip, using it to yank one of the cat's legs out from under her. She goes down, and she doesn't get back up. As Smugleaf retracts his vine, however, I realize something different about it; rather than acting as an extra limb, this one moves more like it's an extension of his body. And the way it curled around our opponent… there's no doubt about it; Smugleaf just learned the move Wrap! _Way to go!_ He smiles at me and winks before I return him to his Poké Ball and bring out Azalea.

The Trainer sends out another cat. Easy peasy. I have Azalea use Air Cutter on her, and– whoa! That was unexpected; the cat went flying! Talk about a critical hit! Impressive! …Even more impressively: she got back up. But all she can manage is a weak Growl. Oh well. Azalea finishes her off with a light Gust, and that's another battle won.

After her defeat, the girl returns her fainted Pokémon to her Poké Ball and then tells me I have talent as a Trainer. Seriously? Did she really just say that? About me? _I_ have talent as a _Trainer_. Great. I roll my eyes and walk away, approaching a boy standing a short distance away from a scrawny tree; he tells me he wants to beat Gym Leaders and challenges me to win against him. Well, who am I to deny him that request? I'm sure whatever Pokémon he has will be no match for Cupcake.

A meerkat? Alright, let's start of with Leer and gauge his strategy first. Jumping right in with Tackle, huh? We can beat that; just shake it off and use Bite! Excellent, the meerkat flinched, so now we're clear to finish him off with a Tackle attack of our own. And down he goes; that meerkat certainly wasn't in the top percentage of meerkats.

Next up… he's sending out another one? Fair enough, let's do Bite again and see if he's any stronger than the last one. Ooh, countering with a Bite of his own, not too bad… but Cupcake's got the clear advantage, even after battling the other meerkat; he'll take him down no problem, but then I'll give him a good rest before I have him battle again. Shall we use Tackle this time? Perfect; taken out before he could even launch another attack. What do you say, kid? Have you got any more Pokémon? Ah, one more – a puppy. Well, as much as I would've liked to have seen a puppy vs. puppy match, I think Cupcake could use a little break.

"Cupcake, good job! Come back!"

He yips at me and runs in a circle, telling me he would've been alright to go on, though he does decide to do as he's told this time. That settled, I bring out Azalea and tell her to use Air Cutter right off the bat, but our opponent charges right through and Tackles her, pinning her down.

I immediately tell her to use Quick Attack and get him off of her, which she does – beak first. At first I don't know what happened, but when I see the redness on my baby bird's face… I can't believe my eyes. I rush to her side and fall on my knees, scooping her up in my arms and holding her tight to my chest. _How could you do that?_ I ask her, but she only chirps unconcernedly. I shake my head, incredulous, as she carelessly wipes the blood off on my jacket. Wonderful. Thanks for that.

I return her to her Poké Ball without another word, then look over at the dying puppy. His trainer is knelt beside him with a hand on his shoulder, whispering assurances that he fought well as the Pokémon's laborious attempts to draw breath become weaker. _I'm… I'm so–_ I start to apologize, but when I see the light leave his eyes my throat closes up. I can't even bring myself to look at his trainer as I rise to my feet, shucking off my jacket and shoving it roughly into my bag; I can't very well walk into the Pokémon Center with blood on my clothes, can I?

Running full-out back into town, I barrel through the doors of the Pokémon Center and skid to a stop at the counter. I wordlessly hand over my Pokémon to Ms. Nurse and then sink to the floor with my back against the front desk and bow my head, tears of grief flowing heavily down my face.

After I get my Poké Balls back, I step outside and walk aimlessly in the opposite direction from where I had just been. There's water there, and I plop down in the shade next to it before calling my baby bird out of her Poké Ball to give her a talking-to.

_Shame on you, Azalea! Shame on you! No, it's not alright! You're only supposed to incapacitate them, not kill them! Why won't you understand?‼_ Taking a deep breath, I sigh and ask, _Do you remember when I told you about Flower?_ She nods, so I continue, _You just did the same thing to that puppy._ Her eyes widen at that. Now she gets it.

…And now she's pecking at herself! _Azalea, stop that! There's no need! Just… just know you did wrong and don't do it again, okay? That's all._ She gazes at me uncertainly, wondering how I'm suddenly fine with her being a murderer. _We have to move past it, is all,_ I tell her, but she's not satisfied with that answer.

Smugleaf chooses that moment to let himself out of his Poké Ball. _Smugleaf, don't…_ I wasn't going to tell her, but my protest comes too late – he's already telling her the very thing I didn't want her to know: that he had killed a puppy, too. _The circumstances were entirely different, though!_ I insist. _Smugleaf killed the puppy that killed Flower; it was justifiable!_ Then again, how exactly I can think of revenge as justifiable I'm not sure. Smugleaf looks at me knowingly, but Azalea seems to have taken my statement at face value. That's a relief.

I return both of them to their Poké Balls, then turn around and wander inside the nearest building. There are people milling about, discussing what they've learned about Pokémon and battling and stuff, but what catches my attention is who is standing at the far end of the room: Mr. Smarts. Oh, goody. I suppose he'll want to battle me, just like Miss Ditz did.

Ah, what the heck? I walk over to him, only to find he's reading aloud to himself from the board on the wall. When he finally notices me, he turns and asks, "Did you come in here looking for the Gym Leader?"

I raise my eyebrow at that and say, "No." Battling Gym Leaders was always _his_ dream, not mine. And there he goes, off on a spiel about how battling Gym Leaders is a great way to get stronger. As if I don't already know that? Sure, I'll go and challenge the Gym Leader, but I didn't come _here_ to do it as this obviously isn't the Gym! You want to battle? Let's do it.

…Why is he blathering on about items? Are we gonna battle or aren't we? …It's gonna be an indoor battle, great; remember how that worked out last time? Talk about a messy room! But anyway, I don't care whether we do this inside or outside, so I call out Cupcake to go up against the little piggy-piggy.

We begin with a Leer to lower his defenses, and he counters by spewing Embers out his nose. Well, isn't that pleasant? Flaming snot. Poor Cupcake yelps and whines as his fur catches on fire, so I quickly return him to his Poké Ball, switching him out for Azalea.

She hardly blinks when our opponent uses Tail Whip. On my command, she uses Quick Attack, first tucking her head down before zooming through the air toward him. As soon as the top of her skull collides with his flank, he's sent rolling end over end until he hits the far wall; I begin to panic when he is unable to get back up, only being slightly reassured when I see him twitch and groan before Mr. Smarts returns him. I guess there's no two ways about it: my baby bird is a badass.

He sends out a purple cat next, then mentions something about items again (whatever). I tell Azalea to use Air Cutter and – lo and behold – it's another critical hit. That's three times in a row now; she's got some super luck… oh, maybe Super Luck is her Ability, like how Cupcake's got Pickup to find stuff at random. Well, that would explain it. I feel really bad for Mr. Smarts's cat, though, when he struggles to his feet. It would've been better for him in the long run if he'd just stayed down and accepted defeat. As his last-ditch effort, he uses… Tail Whip. Sad.

"…There sure are a lot of different moves." Wow, that's profound, Mr. Smarts… have any more brilliant observations? Alright then, Azalea, let's wrap it up with Gust and get out of here. Just before her attack hits, the cat uses Assist… which seems to have wound up being Tail Whip again. That's rather unfortunate for him.

As he returns his cat to his Poké Ball he exclaims, "I see! Losing to you means I still have a lot to learn." Once I return Azalea to her Poké Ball as well, he starts talking about items again and then hands me three round, blue Berries, telling me that if a Pokémon is holding one of them they will eat it during a battle in order to heal itself, but they can't use man-made items like Potions in that way. Well, that _is_ useful information, thank you… I head out the door and back to the Pokémon Center before hitting the Gym.

I do recall seeing a man in the doorway when I first arrived in this town, but now that man has been replaced by a younger guy with green hair. Since he's blocking the entrance, I have no choice but to talk to him in order to get by.

He tells me he's a Gym Leader here, and I inform him that I'm here to challenge the Gym; in response to this, he asks what my first Pokémon was, so I call out Smugleaf and introduce him. "It's weak against Fire-type Pokémon," he says – _Really?_ I glance at my Starter and he glances back at me; the look we exchange clearly says that information is common knowledge – then he tells me I should prepare to face that type by training in such-and-such a place, indicating the area where Azalea killed that other Trainer's puppy.

Well, fine, I'll go there first then. Rolling my eyes, I return Smugleaf to his Poké Ball and walk away. When I get there, however, I see that every single patch of tall grass is blocked off from me. Helpful. I find a strange blue capsule of some sort in a fenced-off area at the farthest point I can reach, then I turn around and head back to town.

Before I've gotten very far, a girl standing in my way asks me what my first Pokémon was. Come again? You're the second person to ask me that! Do you know the green-haired Gym Leader in town? "Panpour could be a big help!" she says, and, just like the Gym Leader, she points out Smugleaf's weakness to Fire-types.

She is right, of course, so I say, "Yes," and then she gives me a Poké Ball and says it can use Water-type moves. Wait, what? Did she just give me a Pokémon? That's twice now! Is she related to that Mister E fellow that gave me Azalea's egg? My newest team member – "Violet" – turns out to be a short blue monkey. _Well then, Violet, let's go get ourselves a Gym Badge, what do you say?_ She nods in response, smiling at me with her eyes closed and a serene expression on her face. _Quiet, huh? That's alright._ I return her to her Poké Ball and go back to the Gym again, and this time I will get in for a battle!

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><p><strong>Alright, I'm sorry, I'm stupid. I know I got NINE reviews in the entirety of the year 2012 for A Challenging Journey so, as per deal #1, that means I owe you all NINE hours of work… o.O Yikes. Problem is, I didn't keep track of how long I was working on this; I just made a note of my play time before starting it again. *facepalm* For your information (as well as my own), play time does not equal work time! I think I played about half an hour and got around three pages on Word! (Well, <strong>_**technically**_** I don't use Word; it's actually OpenOffice, but still, you get the idea.) But anyway, I'm gonna keep writing and start trying to get into a regular schedule of posts/updates – maybe once every couple of weeks? That may seem particularly infrequent, but I don't want to spread myself too thin. Please remember to leave reviews – feedback is good; I like feedback. :)**

**P.S. For those of you who don't know, ****the Japanese name for the move Assist, ねこのて _Neko no Te_ (Cat's Paw), is likely a reference to the saying 猫の手も借りたい _neko no te mo karitai_, which translates to "_I would even like to borrow a cat's hands_", "_I would even like a cat to assist me_", or "_I need all the help I can get"_, befitting the way the move works, and the many catlike Pokémon capable of learning it.**


	6. Entering the First Gym at Last

**A/N: Okay, so, with any luck, this chapter will be posted about a month after the previous one… ^.^; I haven't forgotten that I owe you guys a lot more work after my year-long DOTFOTE. But first, a brief introduction addressing my most recent reviews:**

**"You Know Who" – Yes, I know who; _Mysteryfan17_ (aka my sister :P)! And how is it my fault that you stayed up late to read my story? You could've read most of it last year! When I asked if you saw my newest chapter and you informed me you hadn't read A Challenging Journey at all? You have no one to blame but yourself!**

**Oh, one other thing – a slight change to the organizational lineup here: the beginning of the chapter will only list those Pokémon that Nuzlocke currently has with him in his party; the rest will be at the end.**

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><p>Nuvema Town: (gift) <span>Smugleaf<span> the male Snivy – Level 5; now Level 10  
>Lonely &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap  
>Ability: Overgrow<p>

Accumula Town: (gift) Azalea the female Pidove – Level 0; now Level 11  
>Hardy &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter  
>Ability: Super Luck<p>

Route 2: Cupcake the male Lillipup – Level 6; now Level 10  
>Impish &amp; Quick tempered.<br>Attacks: Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite  
>Ability: Pickup<p>

Dreamyard: (gift) Violet the female Panpour – Level 10; now Level 10  
>Quiet &amp; Capable of taking hits.<br>Attacks: Scratch, Leer, Lick, Water Gun  
>Ability: Gluttony<p>

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><p>When I reach the doors of the Gym, I find them unoccupied for the first time. I stroll inside with Cupcake's Poké Ball in hand. The moment I step inside, a man approaches me and gives me a bottle of water. O-kay…<p>

The room is spacious, but there is a curtain blocking my progress through the building. I head across the floor, intending to push my way through, but something stops me halfway. There are three panels with different designs on the floor, and the one that is currently under my feet – which has suddenly lit up – matches the curtain in front of me. Overhead I hear a buzzer sound before the lighted panel turns off and I am left standing confusedly in the middle of the floor. Okay, so I take it I've done something wrong? Maybe I'm supposed to step on one design in particular in order to move on? That seems like the most logical explanation, so I study the images more closely; to my left is a green panel with a leaf on it, and to my right is a blue panel with a drop of water on it. Well, since the curtain is red with a flame pattern on it, I assume this is an exercise based on type match-ups. That decided, it's obvious to me what my next action should be.

I turn to the right and take three steps so I'm standing on the water droplet. The panel lights up like the other one did as soon as I'm in the center of it, and a few seconds later I hear a _ding-ding_ sound and the curtain parts down the middle, opening wide to grant me access to the next room.

Across the way I can see another curtain, this one blue. As I enter, a man holding a tray walks over to me and offers me "a taste of battle?" Both of us send out puppy Pokémon – interesting. This one looks tougher than any Pokémon we have faced before; it's no wonder, since we're in a Gym.

I tell Cupcake to use Leer first, while our opponent leads with Tackle. Just when I'm about to tell Cupcake to Tackle him right back, he leaps in with his jaws open ready to Bite. To avoid suspicion, I quickly call for a Bite attack, but from this display it seems obvious my puppy is too quick-tempered to maintain the discipline necessary to take part in an official battle; he needs more training.

Our opponent uses Odor Sleuth. I shake my head in disbelief at that. Before Cupcake can make another move on his own, I tell him to use Tackle. Much to my surprise, that is enough to finish off the match. As I return my willful puppy to his Poké Ball, I hear my opponent comment that I've got "a lot of pepper" or something; I find that to be an interesting choice of words… that is, until I look around more closely and really take in the tables and chairs on either side of the room. That's when I realize we're in a restaurant. This Gym… is a restaurant. What will they think of next, a library? I roll my eyes at the thought.

Anyway, since the water panel opened the fire curtain, I make a beeline for the leaf panel; despite my opponent's assurance that I'd do well even without type match-ups, I'm pretty sure it's the whole point here. Sure enough, the curtains open and I walk through, spotting the third different curtain at the same moment as a girl with a tray under her arm spots me, telling me she's my second course as she sends out a meerkat and I call out my starter.

Alright, Smugleaf, let's give your Wrap attack a try! Smugleaf's thick vine successfully Wraps the meerkat, but she manages to get in a good Bite first. I tell Smugleaf to use Vine Whip next, and he strikes with another vine – this one more slender – before the meerkat can escape with a Tackle attack.

Smugleaf repels her with another Vine Whip, but as it hits I realize we've fallen into a trap; the meerkat has used Bide, so we're pretty much doomed unless we finish this up quickly. I cross my fingers as Smugleaf looses one final Vine Whip, hoping against hope that it will land before our opponent's Bide is completed.

_Whew!_ Down she goes. Next up: a purple cat. "Smugleaf, good job! Get back! Go! Violet!"

Wow, if there's one thing I can say about cats it's that they're fast! Her Scratch attack lands almost before I finish telling Violet to use Water Gun. My monkey fires her attack off immediately so it hits close-range, but it still doesn't seem to have done much damage at all so I change tack and use Leer.

She responds with a Growl, so Violet's Scratch attack's damage will even out, but then she counters with another Growl before using Assist… which turns out to be Bide. Well then, let's go for a move that's not very effective: Lick.

Violet Licks her a few times before the damage accrued over the last couple of turns gets sent back twofold (which still isn't very much) and then we finish up with a Water Gun. Or, at least, that was the plan, but then the cat uses Sand Attack and throws off our aim. She does another Assist and winds up using Bite, but now she's right up in Violet's face so our next Water Gun goes off without a hitch and our opponent is down and out.

We both return our Pokémon to our Poké Balls, then I turn around to go back to the Pokémon Center before the final match: my battle with the Gym Leader. He told me I should prepare to fight a Fire-type, so I need to make sure Violet is fighting fit as she is my strongest advantage – other than Azalea's Super Luck, of course.

When I come back, I march straight through the two open curtains and step on the red fire panel in front of the green third curtain. Following the affirmative _ding-ding_ noise, I walk forward and approach the Gym Leader with green hair that I met outside earlier. I stop in front of him on a dais against the back wall of the building and he welcomes me with a bow.

Just as I'm about to issue a challenge to him, a guy with red hair steps out from behind him and says he uses Fire-type Pokémon, then a guy with blue hair steps out from behind him as well and proclaims himself "a Water-type specialist," before finally the green-haired guy says he likes Grass-type Pokémon and they all spin in place.

I stare at them, dumbfounded, as Grassy fumbles for words until Fiery shouts him down and informs me that they will decide whom I'll battle based on the type of my Starter Pokémon. Watery points out that I chose a Grass-type, then he and Grassy back up as Fiery takes center stage and declares himself my opponent.

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><p>Route 1: <span>Flower<span> the female Patrat – Level 4; now Level 7  
>Lonely &amp; Likes to relax.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Bite  
>Ability: Keen Eye<br>Killed on Route 2 and buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.


	7. Vs Gym Leader, Part 1

** A/N: **_**Ah-ahem!**_**  
>Happy birthday to me~<strong>**  
>Happy birthday to me~<strong>**  
>Happy birthday dear Deborah~<strong>**  
>Happy birthday to me~<strong>

**Yeah, I wish. Sick on my birthday. Not fun. -.-**

**I've been a bad llama again because it's quarter of one in the morning and I have nothing for you guys. So, despite my scratchy throat, sniffles, cough, runny nose, and laryngitis, I will now work on this for a couple of hours (or until I fall asleep). I believe ffnet is based in California or something so the date on the site doesn't roll over until 3am for me… which means if all goes according to plan I will succeed in posting this chapter on my birthday, as I intended almost a month ago.**

"**Me again" – While it's true that **_**I**_** wouldn't respond to **_**your**_** reviews from the review page, it's not for my benefit that I would request that you sign in before reviewing; what if another reader wants to contact you? Maybe someone would follow the link to your profile and wind up reading one of your fics or something. Did you not think of that, ****Mysteryfan17****? And ah, yes, I do recall you telling me that you thought my Nuzlocke was a jerk… but unless I'm much mistaken I think that was mostly because of a line that I **_**removed**_** because it wasn't something I wanted there **_**at all**_** from before I had posted any of it here or even fully fleshed out his character in my mind. Don't hold that against him, because he didn't really think that! Retcon! Retcon! …Ehehe… um, where was I? Oh, right!**

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><p><strong> Nuzlocke's party Pokémon:<strong>

**Nuvema Town: (gift) ****Smugleaf**** the male Snivy – Level 5; now Level 11  
>Lonely &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap  
>Ability: Overgrow<strong>

**Accumula Town: (gift) ****Azalea**** the female Pidove – Level 0; now Level 11  
>Hardy &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter  
>Ability: Super Luck<strong>

**Route 2: ****Cupcake**** the male Lillipup – Level 6; now Level 11  
>Impish &amp; Quick tempered.<br>Attacks: Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite  
>Ability: Pickup<strong>

**Dreamyard: (gift) ****Violet**** the female Panpour – Level 10; now Level 10  
>Quiet &amp; Capable of taking hits.<br>Attacks: Scratch, Leer, Lick, Water Gun  
>Ability: Gluttony<strong>

* * *

><p>Fiery screams obnoxiously before saying something about playing with fire and that he's the strongest of the three of them, then he sends out a puppy. Well, since he's not starting with a Fire-type, I figure I'll go with Smugleaf and save the others for when my starter would have a not-so-favorable match-up.<p>

I decide to lead with Wrap since that will continue to cause damage over a few turns while we attack with something stronger. It seems our opponent is also working on a strategy, as he uses Work Up to raise his attack power rather than charging right in on the offense.

Fiery takes a moment to sneer at our apparent lack of strength since Wrap doesn't do much damage to begin with – he obviously doesn't know what we do, though, as at that moment his puppy yelps in pain at the first of the recurrent squeezes of Smugleaf's thick vine. Undeterred, he tells his puppy to use Work Up again as we launch a Vine Whip attack.

At this point I'm starting to get a little bit worried. Stat boost times two equals trouble for the target, so I hope we can take the hit when he gets around to actually making a move. I call for another Vine Whip just as Fiery tells his puppy to use Bite, and Smugleaf's narrow vine swings forward just as our opponent wriggles out of the thicker, more hardy vine that had held him painfully in place during the past couple turns.

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><p><strong>Yeah, yeah, I know that's hardly worth posting as a chapter (I believe it's my shortest yet) but I really wanted to post something on my birthday and it's getting late. Give me a break; I'm sick! I'll post more soon, I promise. No, I really promise! As in, I'll still be working on it this morning and it'll be up within a week! …Oh my God, did I seriously just set myself a concrete deadline? Well, I'm stopping now because if I don't it'll be after 3am here by the time I upload it and that will defeat the purpose of stopping midway through a battle and leaving it at about 250 words ending on a cliffhanger. Bye for now and I'll see you in under a week. *waves weakly*<strong>

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><p><strong>Nuzlocke's fallen comrades:<strong>

**Route 1: ****Flower**** the female Patrat – Level 4; now Level 7  
>Lonely &amp; Likes to relax.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Bite  
>Ability: Keen Eye<br>Killed on Route 2 and buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.**


	8. Vs Gym Leader, Part 2

**A/N: Well, I promised I would keep working on this when I posted the previous one, so here goes:**

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><p>I never thought… I mean, even after two turns of setting up… but I can't deny what I've seen happen right in front of my eyes: Smugleaf's vine has been sheared clean off by that puppy's bite attack. I don't know what I thought would happen, but I certainly wasn't expecting a watery greenish fluid to spew out of the cavity where Smugleaf's vine extended from behind his shoulder.<p>

_No! Smugleaf!_ I cry out in disbelief as he reaches around to cover the wound with his opposite hand, but that isn't nearly enough to staunch the bleeding. _Hold on,_ I tell him as I shrug my backpack off my shoulder and pull out my jacket. Dropping to my knees at his side, I press the garment against the gash under his fingers… but his grip is weak, and seconds later his arm drops limply to his side. Has he already lost so much blood? Finally tearing my gaze away from the damage, I look him in the eye – or I would have, if his eyes were open. Still doing my best to stem the flow of blood, I hold him by the shoulders and shake him urgently. _Smugleaf, please… look at me… don't do this… I can't…_ He opens his eyes a crack then and I stop, listening for him to say something – anything – to allay my fears.

He nods slowly, contradictorily, telling me, _Yes you can,_ then lifts his bloodied hand to my cheek. I bend my head and let out a sob, then look up sharply as I feel him brush a gentle kiss against my forehead. Our eyes meet for a moment before his lids fall closed and he collapses.

I blink hard and stare up at the ceiling. I've seen my share of critical hits, this one definitely puts the 'kill' in 'overkill'. Gritting my teeth, I take a deep breath with new resolve; I will not let this bring me down! Shaking out my balled-up jacket, I wrap my fallen starter in its folds and hold him to my chest with one hand as I return to the sidelines and reach for my next Poké Ball with the other.

"Go for it, Azalea," I call out, telling her, _No mercy._ She turns to me when she hears me sniffle and her eyes widen when she sees the bundle in my arms. "Air Cutter!" She nods immediately and flaps her wings, sending the slicing blades of wind toward the puppy who killed my starter.

"Bite!" the red-haired Gym Leader commands again. He was stony-faced the entire time I attempted to tend to Smugleaf's wounds, and now it seems he doesn't even care that my Pokémon is dead! His Pokémon rushes forward toward my baby bird, teeth bared, faltering a bit as he charges through her attack before reaching her and Biting her wing.

I can tell the attack did some damage, but she is able to shake him off relatively easily and he falls back. One Quick Attack will finish him off for sure, but by the time the words are out of my mouth Fiery has a Potion in his hand and is using it on his puppy. Figures. Just when I thought we had it won… but we aren't going to give up!

I have Azalea use Air Cutter again since that usually works well for us, while Fiery tells his puppy to use Bite once more. My jaw drops, however, as, rather than coming straight at her, the puppy dodges to one side and then leaps at Azalea and Bites her leg.

"Azalea, switch out!" I call, and she returns to her Poké Ball immediately. After a split-second hesitation, my mind is made up and I send in Cupcake. During the switch, Fiery has his puppy use Work Up (that's a total of three times now!) and then he calls for yet another Bite whereas I tell my puppy to use Tackle. The attacks hit head-on, and while both puppies are worn out but still standing, our opponent is noticeably more tired.

Before anything else can be said, Cupcake rushes in with his lips drawn back in a snarl, ready to Bite. The other puppy stands his ground, baring his teeth as well, but just when I think it's gonna be a stalemate, our opponent jumps over him, completely avoiding his attack, then Bites his head, sinking his teeth in far enough that an ominous _crack_ is heard before my Pokémon falls facedown on the floor.

I pull out Azalea's Poké Ball again, knowing that she's weak, but also knowing that she's guaranteed to get in the first hit with a Quick Attack. "Your foe's weak! Get 'em, Azalea! Quick Attack!" Sure enough, though she looks ready to drop, she is able to deliver the final hit and defeat him. The Gym Leader returns his puppy to his Poké Ball and reaches for his next one as I approach Cupcake's body, lifting him into my arms alongside Smugleaf.

Looking up at the triplet Gym Leaders, I study each one's expression carefully: Fiery simply looks determined while Watery seems to be close to tears and Grassy is just plain shocked. Well, at least the other two care something for challengers' Pokémon.

With both of my arms now full, I wonder how I'll be able to switch Pokémon; I certainly can't leave Azalea out in the condition she's in! _Azalea, come back,_ I whisper. She obediently hobbles over to me. _I'm gonna switch you out for Violet, okay?_

As soon as I've said that, Violet pops out of her Poké Ball and stands ready to battle just as Fiery declares, "It's not over yet!" and sends out the one Pokémon he has left; a short red monkey, very similar in stature to Violet herself.

Before our opponent calls out any attacks, I surreptitiously ask Azalea to grab some of the medicine out of my backpack so I can heal her, but instead of bringing out the potion bottle I meant for her to find, when she pulls her head out there is a blue-tipped capsule in her beak. I shake my head and tell her that's not it. She shrugs and jerks her head to one side, causing the capsule to go flying straight toward Violet. It breaks open on her and a glowing sheen spreads over the surface of her body, almost like a light armor.

The Gym Leader tells his monkey to use Work Up then, so I respond by telling Violet to use Water Gun; hopefully using a more powerful attack from the get-go will lead to this round having a better outcome than the previous one and I can worry about healing my baby bird later. Violet's move is super-effective and does a fair amount of damage, but this monkey doesn't look like it will go down very easily. After he uses a second Work Up, the Gym Leader calls for an Incinerate attack, while I tell Violet to launch another Water Gun. The flames produced by the short red monkey we're up against are quickly extinguished. Undeterred, he tries his fire attack again – to no avail – and one final Water Gun from Violet decides the match. Easier than I thought.

Fiery concedes defeat, saying he's burned out and that I'm on fire. Hardly. He has no tact; he's talking as though his puppy didn't kill two of my Pokémon! He hands over the Gym Badge at last and then steps back, switching places with Grassy standing off to the side against the back wall of the building. I really couldn't care less what any of them have to say at the moment; I just want to get out of this place and never come back. As I turn to leave, Grassy reaches out to stop me and holds out a disc of some sort. Violet takes it from him for me and, at my indication, throws it in my bag before she slings it over her shoulder. I tell Azalea to return to her Ball and she does so gratefully, then Violet follows my lead and walks with me out the door.

A woman outside approaches me then, saying that Prof. Lady told her to give me something and that I should follow her. I try to ignore her, but she proceeds to drag me inside a nearby house and up a set of stairs to what looks like a cross between a bedroom and a laboratory. As much as I try to get away, she keeps stopping me and talking and talking and then she holds out a disc like the one the green-haired Gym Leader just gave me. I don't know how useful it'll be – or even how to use it – but since Violet followed me in she steps forward and takes the disc from the woman, putting it in my bag with the other one. _Still_ the woman won't let me leave. She says something about attacks being used outside of battle that can't be forgotten, and then something about a certain item from a certain Pokémon from a certain location, blah, blah, blah…

Finally I manage to slip away back downstairs and outside, sneaking behind the building so if she comes looking for me she won't be able to find me. I inadvertently bump into a bald man in the shadows of the trees bordering the city and hastily apologize, but he just says something about Pokémon hiding in dark places too and then gives me a dark Ball; it's sort of black and green and… pretty eerie looking, actually.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, stopping now because it's 7:20am and I've been up all night working on this. Can I just say this totally sucks!? As if it wasn't bad enough that I'm sick on my birthday, now I've created a deadline for myself to work on something and, did I mention, stayed up all night when I'm sick? Ugh. BUT! EVEN WORSE! MY STARTER DIED! OMG SO NOT FAIR! =(( I hope you guys… well, I **_**would**_** say I hope you guys like this chapter, but I really hope you don't because it sucks and if you like this chapter then I really don't know what to say to you people except maybe that you're messed up. And by that I mean worse than me. Oh, I know I'm messed up; just not **_**that**_** bad. I'm messed up in other ways. Besides my health, I mean, 'cause that's something that can change. And I've blabbed for five minutes now about how I'm going to bed because I'm sick and I pulled an all-nighter for you and… yeah. Good night. =_=**

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><p><strong>UPDATE 529/13: I am not sick anymore. Yayness. I still haven't played any more since I wrote the original ending A/N at 7:20am on April 12th, but you'll be happy to know that my DS' battery is fully charged again so I should be getting to this soon. Possibly. I mean, I hope so. I sort of DOTFOTE'd again this month, but I've posted updates on TWO of my stories in one day today! I even gave you all 3 _Drabbles of the Doctor Whoniverse_ that I still had saved up from a while ago. I hope that will hold you guys over until I can work some more on my Nuzlocke…  
><strong>


	9. Who's That Pokémon?

** A/N: Hello again, everyone. Almost a whole year since this fic was last updated and honestly I really am sorry that I've left you all hanging for so long. ****Anyway****, I'm not dead. Kind of a surprise, I know, what with the grief over losing Smugleaf and Cupcake as well as Flower. Hmm… now the only Pokémon I have are gift Pokémon. Interesting. (Not that starters aren't gift Pokémon – they are – but I don't have mine anymore so that point is moot.) I can't believe I lost both of my boys to that stupid flaming jacka… uh, Castform! Ahem. And, on that note? Review replies ho!**

**Mysteryfan17**** – You can't believe **_**me**_**? As if it was my idea? As if it was intentional? As if I'd let my Pokémon die on purpose? As if I don't actually form attachments to blocks of pixels whose DNA consists of strings of binary code created by random number generators and containing a finite soul that only exists in predetermined programming data? *takes a breath* I am **_**not**_** one of those cruel authors who constantly writes about bad stuff happening to all the people/characters that I love! Um… yeah… that is… uh, most of my other stories notwithstanding? *nervous grin***

** maribeth,shuman – *sigh* Yes, yes, I know; it's sad, but that's the breaks. *chokes back a sob* I don't like it any more than you do, but that's just how these Nuzlocke things are… *Waahh!***

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><p><strong>Nuzlocke's party Pokémon:<strong>

**Accumula Town: (gift) ****Azalea**** the female Pidove – from Level 0 to Level 12  
>Hardy &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Air Cutter  
>Ability: Super Luck<strong>

**Dreamyard: (gift) ****Violet**** the female Panpour – from Level 10 to Level 11  
>Quiet &amp; Capable of taking hits.<br>Attacks: Lick, Water Gun, Work Up, Cut  
>Ability: Gluttony<strong>

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><p>Turning to the trees lining the edge of town, I whisper into the darkness, <em>Azalea? Could you come out and help me, please?<em> She immediately does so and, on my command, uses Gust to clear the ground between two trees which are just far enough apart that I can lay Smugleaf and Cupcake to rest side by side between their roots. Before I can do or say anything else, Azalea uses Air Cutter to gouge out two small graves right where I would have put them; the dirt settles into two even piles on the opposite side even though the hole on the left is longer and narrower than the slightly deeper one on the right. My baby bird must be a genius to regulate the angle and power of the slicing blades of wind created from each of her wings individually in order to pull that off.

Not realizing that Violet has wandered away, I lay Cupcake's body in the right-hand pit before unwrapping my beloved Starter's stiff form from my now bloodsoaked jacket and laying him to rest in the trough to my left. I wonder whether it's even worth it to keep anymore, but for now I toss it aside before returning to the task at hand.

I have just finished burying my dearly departed partners when I notice Violet approaching from a short distance further in amongst the trees, dragging a smooth flat boulder into position at the top of the graves like a sort of joint headstone. She wipes away some sweat that had gathered under the tuft on her head, then hacks away at the surface of the rock with her paws. I watch her work, awed and confused because it doesn't seem to be her usual Scratch attack; each swipe is only creating one thick straight line rather than multiple small jagged lines, and the markings are very deep. Has she learned a new move somehow? She doesn't respond when I ask her about it as she is entirely focused on her self-appointed job of carving out the inscription in memory of the teammates she never had a chance to get to know.

R I P  
>Smugleaf &amp; Cupcake<br>Killed in Gym 1  
>Avenged by Azalea<p>

After a moment of silence, I call my two remaining compatriots back to their Poké Balls and retrieve my backpack from where Violet had left it under a nearby tree, shoving my discarded jacket inside before trudging back to the Pokémon Center. There is a man just inside the door who seems to have been waiting for me. A very familiar man; one in a blue suit. He's the one who gave me Azalea's egg, and now he's handing me a Ball that is a deep red all over. Just who is this "Mister E" dude, and why is he giving me Pokémon? I stare at the mirrored surface of this pure red Ball and my grip on it tightens as the face of a perplexed young Trainer is reflected back at me – the face of a _human…_

I have said before that I am a drifter; a nameless wanderer; shrouded in mystery, secrets, and lies. Okay, you want the truth? The _real_ truth? I'm not a human. I am a Pokémon. A Pokémon whose life was turned inside out in the blink of an eye. Everything changed because of a single misstep. My trainer had no idea what the repercussions would be. There is no blame to be placed on anyone; it was an accident. Nobody could have predicted what would happen in that situation.

My Trainer's name is Deborah, and she is the greatest Trainer in the entire world. She raised me from an egg, gently guiding me as my level increased in leaps and bounds. The opponents we battled when I was nothing but a small spiky ball were hardly able to harm me at all; the most damage I ever took was when they were able to Curse me, but then the battles ended even more quickly in our favor because they had to damage themselves in order to do it – and sometimes they would actually knock themselves out in the process!

It was always great fun wagging my finger at the endless horde of gas heads coming out of the woodwork in the decrepit old building where we trained. I learned all about different attacks and what they did because my Metronome caused a wide variety of moves to be accessible to me. That's one of the reasons I know about Odor Sleuth; it has the same effects as Foresight, and one of the only situations it's usable in is when fighting Ghost-type Pokémon (the other being to neutralize an enemy's heightened evasiveness). I remember a fair number of moves would fail to do anything to those wild Pokémon we fought early on if my Metronome hadn't become Foresight or Odor Sleuth before I used them. If I really am a Pokémon myself, you may ask, how did I turn into a human? Well, I'll tell you.

It was a day like any other, a long while after I had evolved into the cheerful happy fairy that I was. Deborah was traveling around, battling other trainers, as trainers do. She began a double battle, choosing me and her dressy lady Pokémon to start with against a pair of wobbly-faced blobs. One of them, the little imposter that it was, immediately changed into a copy of my teammate and then Traced my Hustle while my partner Traced the other blob's Imposter. Obviously, since the one across from her was already transformed, her newly acquired Ability couldn't activate. The other blob we were up against then changed into a copy of me and the battle could finally begin.

It wasn't a difficult fight by any means. We quickly gained the upper hand and I was able to knock out my doppelganger on the same turn as my partner's doppelganger used Healing Wish. (Apparently the trainer we were up against hadn't studied nearly as much as I had, because even I knew that was a dumb move to make.) Meanwhile, the dressy lady at my side used Skill Swap to gain my Hustle and give me the Ability Imposter. Deborah, like me, must have assumed that it would activate and allow me to change into the next Pokémon to take the field. Imagine our shock, then, when it took effect right away and, with no target, homed in on the Trainer we were battling.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow. Talk about a bombshell, right? This kid that we've been calling Nuzlocke is actually a Pokémon who has been turned into a human thanks to a freak accident. I knew this pretty much from the start, but exactly how it happened was only fully fleshed out around the time that I did Chapter 5; remember when I declared I wasn't going to say much about it because *SPOILERS*? Well, it's been a long time coming, this reveal – we're talking just over two years ago here (OMFG seriously? Has it been that long? o.O) – so I hope you all liked it!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Nuzlocke's fallen comrades:<strong>

**Route 1: ****Flower**** the female Patrat – from Level 4 to Level 7  
>Lonely &amp; Likes to relax.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Bite  
>Ability: Keen Eye<br>Killed on Route 2 and buried outside Accumula Town's Pokémon Center.**

**Nuvema Town: (gift) ****Smugleaf**** the male Snivy – from Level 5 to Level 11  
>Lonely &amp; Somewhat vain.<br>Attacks: Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap  
>Ability: Overgrow<br>Killed in Striaton Gym and buried behind Fennel's building.**

**Route 2: ****Cupcake**** the male Lillipup – from Level 6 to Level 11  
>Impish &amp; Quick tempered.<br>Attacks: Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth, Bite  
>Ability: Pickup<br>Killed in Striaton Gym and buried behind Fennel's building.**

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><p><strong>P.S. When this Nuzlocke's Pok<strong>é<strong>mon die, their spirits pass on through the Pok**é** Transporter to the afterlife via a Pok**é**mon Bank, from which they are reincarnated exactly as they were in the next generation.  
>For those of you who find that explanation incomprehensible? I transferred <span>Flower<span>, Smugleaf, and Cupcake from Pok**é**mon Black to Pok**é**mon Y. They are now ****living ****happily under the care of Pok**é**mon Trainer Deborah and have all reached level 15.  
><strong>


End file.
